A young girl, kidnapped on the eve of World War II, changes the lives of a German archaeologist forced into the Nazi Party and–decades later–a researcher trying to overcome her own trauma.
1940. Hanna Tillich cherishes her work as an archaeologist for the Third Reich, searching for the Holy Grail and other artifacts to bolster evidence of a master Aryan race. But when she is reassigned to work as a museum curator in Nuremberg, then forced to marry an SS officer and adopt a young girl, Hanna begins to see behind the Nazi facade. A prayer labyrinth becomes a storehouse for Hanna’s secrets, but as she comes to love Lilly as her own daughter, she fears that what she’s hiding–and what she begins to uncover–could put them both in mortal danger.
Eighty years later, Ember Ellis is a Holocaust researcher intent on confronting hatred toward the Jewish people and other minorities. She reconnects with a former teacher on Martha’s Vineyard after she learns that Mrs. Kiehl’s mother once worked with the Nazi Ahnenerbe. And yet, Mrs. Kiehl describes her mother as “a friend to the Jewish people.” Wondering how both could be true, Ember helps Mrs. Kiehl regain her fractured childhood memories of World War II while at the same time confronting the heartache of her own secret past–and the person who wants to silence Ember forever.
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Sexual Content - 1/5
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Violence - 2/5
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Language - 0/5
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Drugs and Alcohol - 0/5
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Summary
From: Carol Pennington
Book Title: The Curator’s Daughter
Book Author: Melanie Dobson
What do you like about this book:
This excellent Christian Fiction novel about World War II takes a very unique and effective approach. While concentration camps and persecution are definitely explored in this story, that is not its main focus. Rather the main focus is about overcoming hatred and the numerous ways it manifest itself.
The authors use of two points of view and two different time periods adds additional layers of intrigue to this amazing story. I also enjoyed learning things I never knew occurred in Germany during the war. I had never before heard that measurements were used to help identify those of the Aryan race. I also did not realize the interest of the Nazi Party in archeology. I also did not realize that children were stolen from other countries and adopted to German families to help enlarge and restore the German populace. Finally, I found it very refreshing to learn there were those who helped preserve the ancestral records and stories of those who “disappeared” from Germany, even in the face of their own demise should they be caught.
Hatred is the ultimate form of evil. It absolutely terrifies me to know that there are facets in our own country at this time who seek to destroy those who are different from them. This evil has always existed and will likely continue to exist until such a time as we live in the presence of pure love. Until then, we must model and show love to keep this evil from becoming all encompassing and destining a repeat of history. Thank you Melanie Dobson for bringing this subject to light with such creativity and passion.
While parts of this book are hard to read because of the subject matter, it needs to be read. The author does a great job presenting the horrors of this time period in a non-graphic manner. I highly recommend this book to everyone.